The art of life is to live in the present moment, and to make that moment as perfect as we can by the realization that we are the instruments and expression of God Himself.

Emmet Fox

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First, my cousin posted something on FB a wee bit ago that got me thinking about how we treat one another. We have so many reasons that back up our distastful actions and it's sad. Without going into all the details of it I share with you the results of my thoughts. We need to see larger and give love, that's all there is to it.

Another little watercolour page. Just playing around since I'm WAY out of the habit of sketching at all again and need to get back into it.

And lastly a birthday present for a friend who loves books as much as I do. Apparently she loves it too much to toss it between book pages and is geting it framed, as long as she loves it I can't complain.

Recently I had the opportunity to do a commission for a friend, a family portrait. It's a large sucker, 36″x48″, the largest I've painted to date.

The background is filled with memories of their lives together. Tripes taken, handwritten letters from loved ones, mementos of specials dates, etc..

Beyond the challenge of trying to represent each family member in a way that represented them (the mother's signature red lips and super blonde hair, their rosy cheeked girl, or the requested fauxhawks on the boys), was getting their little Roxy girl right. It's hard to paint a chocolate lab, and it was sensitive since the sweet girl died this past Christmas Day.

There were many stages along the way where I had to remind myself, “every painting has an ugly stage” and I even wondered at one point if it would pull together. Somehow it did.

That's that. First ever commission completed, and not only am I pleased, but so is my friend.